Economic Approaches to Legal Reasoning and Interpretation

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Economic Approaches to Legal Reasoning and Interpretation

9781788111638 Edward Elgar Publishing
Edited by Brian H. Bix, Frederick W. Thomas Professor of Law and Philosophy, University of Minnesota, US
Publication Date: 2018 ISBN: 978 1 78811 163 8 Extent: 744 pp
This insightful single-volume compilation brings together the most important contemporary work by experts in the economic analysis of legal reasoning and interpretation. The collection explores a wide range of topics in the field, from constitutional to statutory interpretation, precedent and the interpretation of contracts. The articles raise key questions concerning the optimal construction of institutions, the best approach to judicial decision-making, and the best strategies for statutory and contract drafting. Prefaced by an original introduction by the editor, this collection will be valuable to academics interested in legal reasoning, economic analysis and legal philosophy.

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Critical Acclaim
Contributors
Contents
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This insightful single-volume compilation brings together the most important contemporary work by experts in the economic analysis of legal reasoning and interpretation. The collection explores a wide range of topics in the field, from constitutional to statutory interpretation, precedent and the interpretation of contracts. The articles raise key questions concerning the optimal construction of institutions, the best approach to judicial decision-making, and the best strategies for statutory and contract drafting. Prefaced by an original introduction by the editor, this collection will be valuable to academics interested in legal reasoning, economic analysis and legal philosophy.
Critical Acclaim
‘Bix compiles a classic collection of the best writing in the area, with an eye towards pieces that are both sophisticated and accessible to a general audience. The section on contract interpretation provides a perfect selection of articles to introduce the subject and enables the reader to understand the more specialized and nuanced work in the area’
– Lisa Bernstein, University of Chicago Law School, US
Contributors
18 articles, dating from 1976 to 2014
Contributors include: I. Ayres, J.A. Ferejohn, V. Fon, R. Gertner, W. Landes, F. Parisi, R.A. Posner, A. Schwartz, R.E. Scott, B.R. Weingast
Contents
Contents:

Introduction Brian H. Bix

PART I CONSTITUTIONAL INTERPRETATION
1. A. C. Pritchard and Todd J. Zywicki (1999), ‘Finding the Constitution: An Economic Analysis of Tradition’s Role in Constitutional Interpretation’, North Carolina Law Review, 77 (2), January, 409–521

2. John O. McGinnis (2014), ‘Public Choice Originalism: Bork, Buchanan and the Escape from the Progressive Paradigm’, Journal of Law, Economics and Policy, 10 (3), Fall, 669–88

PART II STATUTORY INTERPRETATION
3. Jonathan R. Macey (1986), ‘Promoting Public-Regarding Legislation through Statutory Interpretation: An Interest Group Model’, Columbia Law Review, 86 (2), March, 223–68

4. John A. Ferejohn and Barry R. Weingast (1992), ‘A Positive Theory of Statutory Interpretation’, International Review of Law and Economics, 12 (2), June, 263–79

5. Robert D. Cooter and Tom Ginsburg (1996), ‘Comparative Judicial Discretion: An Empirical Test of Economic Models’, International Review of Law and Economics, 16 (3), September, 295–313

6. Arthur Lupia and Mathew D. McCubbins (2005), ‘Lost in Translation: Social Choice Theory is Misapplied Against Legislative Intent’, Journal of Contemporary Legal Issues, 14 (2), February, 585–617

PART III PRECEDENT
7. William M. Landes and Richard A. Posner (1976), ‘Legal Precedent: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis’, Journal of Law and Economics, 19 (2), August, 249–307

8. Erin O’Hara (1993), ‘Social Constraint or Implicit Collusion?: Toward a Game Theoretic Analysis of Stare Decisis’, Seton Hall Law Review, 24 (2), June, 736–78

9. Vincy Fon and Francesco Parisi (2006), ‘Judicial Precedents in Civil Law Systems: A Dynamic Analysis’, International Review of Law and Economics, 26 (4), December, 519–35

10. Nicola Gennaioli and Andrei Shleifer (2007), ‘Overruling and the Instability of Law’, Journal of Comparative Economics, 35 (2), June, 309–28

PART IV INTERPRETING CONTRACTS
11. Ian Ayres and Robert Gertner (1989), ‘Filling Gaps in Incomplete Contracts: An Economic Theory of Default Rules’, Yale Law Journal, 99 (1), October, 87–130

12. Alan Schwartz (1992), ‘Relational Contracts in the Courts: An Analysis of Incomplete Agreements and Judicial Strategies’, Journal of Legal Studies, 21 (2), June, 271–318

13. Gillian K. Hadfield (1994), ‘Judicial Competence and the Interpretation of Incomplete Contracts’, Journal of Legal Studies, 23 (1), January, 159–84
14. Alan Schwartz and Robert E. Scott (2003), ‘Contract Theory and the Limits of Contract Law’, Yale Law Journal, 113 (3), December, 541–619

15. Avery Wiener Katz (2004), ‘The Economics of Form and Substance in Contract Interpretation’, Columbia Law Review, 104 (2), March, 496–538

16. Richard A. Posner (2005), ‘The Law and Economics of Contract Interpretation’, Texas Law Review, 83 (6), May, 1581–614

17. Alan Schwartz and Robert E. Scott (2010), ‘Contract Interpretation Redux’, Yale Law Journal, 119 (5), March, 926–64

18. Steven J. Burton (2013), ’A Lesson on Some Limits of Economic Analysis: Schwartz and Scott on Contract Interpretation’, Indiana Law Journal, 88 (1), Winter, 339–60

Index

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